Get Your Kids Involved in Reading the Constitution

As part of 101.9 FM WDET’s Book Club, we’re inviting the Detroit region to examine and discuss the text that impacts every resident of the United States: The Constitution. Whether you’re revisiting the documents or reading them for the first time, join us in reading along and engaging in civil conversations with your community. 

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WDET is dedicating resources to helping our community better understand the Constitution and the context in which they were drafted and subsequently interpreted. And we mean our whole community.

Help the little ones in your life understand the documents that have shaped our country by inviting them to be part of the WDET Book Club. You can pick up a copy of “Constitution Translated for Kids” by making a one-time gift to WDET.

Check out the resources below to engage your students, children, nieces and nephews, babysitting charges, etc. on these foundational texts. Heck, it might even help you better understand these documents.

Jump to a category:
Activities
Books
Lesson Plans
Videos

Activities

• Conduct a Constitutional Play: “Bound Together” brings the Constitutional Convention and the current implications of the document to life through a four-act play, adapted for kids and classrooms.
• Constitution Coloring Pages: Free, printable coloring sheets to help young kids contextualize the foundational documents.
• Write Your Own Constitution: Establish ground rules that govern daily life by working with your kids to create a Constitution for your household or classroom.

Books

• Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights and the Flaws That Affect Us Today (Cynthia and Sanford Levinson): This graphic novel for ages 10 and older explores the flaws in our founding documents and how they led to partisan gridlock, voter disenfranchisement and more. It also provides examples of systems used elsewhere that may be superior to our own.
• The Interactive Constitution: Explore the Constitution with Flaps, Wheels, Color-Changing Words, and More! (David Miles): Boil down the basics of the Constitution for young readers with infographic-style illustrations and interactive features.
• We the People: The United States Constitution Explored and Explained (Evan Sargent and Aura Lewis): Each chapter in this informative book covers a different article or amendment and is accompanied by “Fast Facts,” quiz-style questions and open-ended prompts.

Lesson Plans

• Commemorating Constitution Day: Find K-12 lesson plans on topics such as the president’s roles and responsibilities, a deep dive into the First Amendment, John Marshall’s role in shaping judicial review and more, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
• Constitution and the Census: The framers of the Constitution included a mandatory count of the population every 10 years. Delve into the significance of the Census and apportionment as it relates to the Constitution with these teaching guides, resources and activities from the Census Bureau.
• Constitution at Work Workshop: Students will review primary source documents to better understand their connection to the Constitution. Suitable for grades 4-12.
• “Constitution Translated for Kids” Teachers Guide: This resource provides guidance on how to simplify the Constitution and relate the concepts and ideas of the document in the classroom.
• What Was the Purpose of the Preamble?: Start at the beginning by delving into the significance and objective of the Preamble to the Constitution.
• Patriot Week Activities and Lesson Plans: Started in 2009, Patriot Week is a nonpartisan organization that aims to better inform the public about American civics and the Constitution. Parents and educators can find an abundance of activities and lesson plans on their site.

Videos

• Schoolhouse Rock – The Constitution: A classic! The preamble just sounds better when it’s sung in harmony.
• Teaching the Constitution (PBS): PBS offers an array of video resources to help students understand the Constitution and its continuing significance.
• This Is America, Charlie Brown: In this eight-part miniseries, beloved Peanuts characters depict pivotal moments in American history. Episode 2, “The Birth of the Constitution,” highlights the Constitutional Convention.